Old Kingdom, New Perspectives

Egyptian Art and Archaeology 2750-2150 BC

Nigel Strudwick, Helen Strudwick, Helen Strudwick

• Publisher: Oxbow Books
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781842176757
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

Recent research on all aspects of the Old Kingdom in Egypt is presented in this volume, ranging through the Pyramid Texts, tomb architecture, ceramics, scene choice and layout, field reports, cemetery layout, tomb and temple statuary. The contributions also show how Egyptology is not stuck in its venerable traditions but that newer forms of technology are being used to great effect by Egyptologists. For example, two papers show how GIS technology can shed light on cemetery arrangement and how 3D scanners can be employed in the process of producing facsimile drawings of reliefs and inscriptions. The authors cover a wide range of sites and monuments. A large part of the work presented deals with material from the great cemeteries of Saqqara and Giza of the Old Kingdom capital city of Memphis but all the smaller sites are discussed. The book also includes a paper on the architecture of mastabas from the lesser-known site of Abu Roasch. The provinces are by no means overlooked, with articles on material from Deir el-Bersha, el-Sheikh Said and Akhmim. Between them, the authors discuss material from the milieu of the king right down to that which concerned the tomb workmen and those who supplied their basic needs, such as bakers, brewers and potters. Containing papers presented at a conference at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in May 2009, this book continues a series of publications of the latest research presented at previous meetings in Paris, Berlin and Prague. Much new material is published here and the papers are fully illustrated, with over 200 photographs and drawings.

1

Recent work in the tomb of Nebkauhor at Saqqara

Abdou el-Kerety

The tomb of Nebkauhor (Idu)¹ is located in Saqqara, in the area north of the causeway of Unas and south of the enclosure wall of the Step Pyramid of king Djoser, west of the tomb of Niankhba, the east of the rock-cut tomb of Hermeru. This tomb is dated to the end of the fifth dynasty and the beginning of the sixth dynasty.²

Fig. 1: The northern wall in the offering room

The history of the tomb's discovery and first publication

The tomb of Nebkauhor was excavated by Selim Hassan in mid-October 1937, during the 1937–1938 excavation season at Saqqara of the Egyptian Antiquities Service. A brief report about the main results of the excavation was published by Selim Hassan and re-edited by Zaki Iskander in 1975.³

Reasons for re-publishing the tomb of Nebkauhor

It is important to state why I chose the tomb of Nebkauhor for intensive study instead of one of the other tombs in Saqqara, such as Khentika, Ty, or Neferherenptah. The following are some answers to this question.

1. There is a severe lack of detailed information in the original publication of the tomb of Nebkauhor. In his description of the northern wall in the pillared hall, Hassan⁴ failed to describe several scenes and texts which I shall evaluate in my future study on the tomb of Nebkauhor.
   

   Fig. 2: The façade
   

   Fig. 3: The first pillar
2. The tomb owner was the king's eldest son of his body, and a vizier; therefore he was a man of considerable importance.
3. The tomb is also one of the last major tombs at Saqqara still to be researched and to be published thoroughly.
4. There are many errors in the original publication of the tomb. Moreover, there are many errors in Hassan's translation of the hieroglyphic texts, especially the biography.⁵
5. The tomb occupies a special place in the history of Old Kingdom politics, and its art and architecture dates to the transitional period between the end of the fifth dynasty and the beginning of the Sixth. Akhethotep⁶ (the original owner, and also the one for whom most of the tomb's decoration was carved) post-dates well-known tomb owners such as Ptahshepses at Abusir, and Ty, as well as Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, at Saqqara. He also predates well-known sixth dynasty tomb owners such as Kagemni, Mereruka and Ankhmahor.

Tomb owner

Nebkauhor (Idu)'s titles included those of king's eldest son of his body,⁷ hereditary prince,⁸ count,⁹ overseer of the Scribes of the kings documents,¹⁰ chief justice and vizier,¹¹ inspector of priests of the pyramid of Unas¹² and scribe of a phyle,¹³ amongst others. It is interesting to point out that the original tomb owner, Akhethotep (Hemi), apparently held the same titles as Nebkauhor (Idu), with the exception of the title of ‘king's eldest son of his body’.

The architecture of the superstructure and substructure

The tomb is a very large one measuring 34.0 × 18.60 m. The existing height is 4.20 m. The tomb consists of: a court; a pillared hall; a serdab; an ante-chamber; a mortuary chapel; an offering room; a burial chamber; and storerooms.

The decoration

1. The façade

The original facade faces south, and still shows reliefs representing the first owner of the mastaba. Akhethotep is standing and facing east. Most of his figure is missing. Only the right hand, holding a handkerchief, and parts of his trunk and feet are still apparent. In front of the feet, only a few fragmentary signs remain of the horizontal row of hieroglyphs (Fig. 2).

2. The removal of the name of the original tomb owner and its substitution with the name Nebkauhor

The tomb shows several examples of Nebkauhor erasing the name and the titles of the original tomb owner Akhethotep and substituting it with his own name.

1. The first pillar: we can observe clearly how Nebkauhor removed the name of Akhethotep, and substituted it with his name¹⁴ (Fig. 3).
2. The northern wall in the offering room: we n...